Life-saving apparatus for street-cars



No. 6|3,'69I. Patented Nov. 8, I898. H. W. LIBBEY.

LIFE SAVING APPARATUS FOR vSTl-IEET CARS.

(Application filed Jan. 24, 1898.)

Fill.

(No Model.)

UNITED STATES l PATE T Orricn.

I-lOSEA W. LIBBEY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

LIFE-SAVING APPARATUS FOR STREET-CARS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 613,691, datedNovember 8, 1898. Application filed January 24, 1898. Serial No.667,784. N0 mod l-l T0 aZZ whom, it 77mg concern:

Be it known that I, HOSEA W. LIBBEY, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inLife-Saving Apparatus for Street-Oars, of which the following, taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification.

My invention relates to certain improvements in lifesaving apparatus forstreet-cars whereby any body that may be upon the track and which thecar is liable to come into contact with can be easily removed, and thatwithout serious injury to said body.

The invention consists of a circular framework provided with elasticsweepers and adapted to be rotated by springs that are under the controlof the driver, so that when the driver sees an object in front of thecar he has simply to press his foot upon a lever, thus releasing thesprings, which then cause the circular frame to rotate and sweep thebody forward, and thus prevent it coming under the wheels of the car.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a side viewof one end of a car fitted with my improved life-saving apparatus. Fig.2 is a front view; Fig. 3, a vertical transverse section taken throughone of the springs; Fig. 4, a vertical transverse section taken throughthe ratchet. Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal section taken through oneof the springs and ratchets.

A represents a portion of the body of an electric car, and B theplatform. To the under side of the front portion of the platform, ateach end, is secured a suitable hanger 0, formed in one with or securedto a circular casing 0, having a back a (see Fig. 4) formed in onetherewith. The front end of said casing is closed by a cover a, that issecured in position in any suitable manner. Through the center of thiscasing O is passed a shaft D, on the central portion of which, betweenthe hangers O, is secured a circular frame E, the longitudinal bars ofwhich are fitted with straight pieces of india-rubber, or, preferably,with rubbers formed tubular at their outer ends, as shown at c, Fig. 1,which act as brushes when the device is in operation. Although I preferto employ rubber, it is obvious that any other suitable material to forma sweeper might be employed.

Upon the ends of the shaft D that extend through the circular boxes aresecured ratchet-wheels F, and outside of same is a spiral spring G, oneend of which is secured to the shaft D and the other end is secured tothe box or casing O.

The outer ends of the shaft D are formed square to receive a crank towind up the spiral springs.

H H are pawls in gear with the teeth of the ratchet-wheels F. Thesepawls are on the ends of bent levers H, that are fulcrumed to bearingsI, attached to the under side of the platform B, and the ends of thelevers H are attached to an upright rod J that passes through theplatform B, in the central portion thereof, so as to beconvenient forthe driver to place his foot upon same to raise the pawls, and thusallow the sweeper to be rotated by the springs.

The outer surface of the longitudinal pieces of rubber or other suitablematerial are mount= ed so as to be normally but a short distance fromthe track, so that when they are allowed to rotate they will readilysweep any object from off the track.

In order to wind up the springs G to hold them in'readiness for action,the driver first winds them up from either side of the car with the samecrank that he uses for operating the electric contacts. 'Now when thesprings are thus wound up they are ready for use at any moment by simplywithdrawing the pawls from the ratchet-wheels, when the said springswill cause the sweeper to be rapidly rotated until said springs arerun-down,

when the driver will again have to wind up the springs. It will be seenthat by this construction the rotary sweeper is always ready and can beinstantly put into operation upon the driver depressing the rod Jwhenever he sees an object upon the track which the car would come intocontact with.

. What I claim is- 1. A circular frame mounted in brackets secured tothe under side of the platform of a street-car, springs capable of beingwound up to cause same to rotate, ratchet-wheels and pawls for holdingsaid springs in place when wound up and a presser-bar for withdrawingthe pawls from the ratchet-teeth substantially as set forth.

2. In a street-car, circular casings secured to the under side of theplatform by hangers, a shaft mounted in said casings, a rotary frame onthe shaft between the casings a v0- lute spring and ratchet-Wheel withineach of the casings, pawls for holding the ratchetwheels in place and apresser-bar for releasing same When desired substantially as set forth.

3. In combination with an electric car a circular frame mounted upon ashaft and fitted with rubber strips, springs for causing same to rotateratchet-Wheels secured to the shaft and pawls capable of being operatedby the motor I 5 man substantially as set forth. H In testimony whereofI have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of twosubscribing Witnesses, on this 28th day of December, A. D. 1897.

HOSEA lV. LIBBEY. Witnesses:

CHAS. STEERE, EDWIN PLANTA.

